Horse Talk

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The place for all the up to date stories from or animal friends

The Bravest Pony Of Them All

BOBBY

Our little chap has suffered from an impacted bowl and under went surgery at the begining of May 2008. The vet said 'he could not believe how Bobby was still able to stand, as the pain would have been incredible'.

However Bobby, against all the odds has pulled through his surgery and he is now recovering with 3 months box rest. As you can imagine he has lost a lot of weight and has asked that summer photos are not released until he is looking better! So here is a photo from 2007 showing just what a fantastic pony he really is.

The group has set up a separate fund to cover the cost of Bobby's surgery. Any donations/cheques to be made out to "The Bobby Fund" Thornton Rose Ride-Ability Group these can be sent to Ann Johnston directly. Ann's details can be found on our home page.

The Cheeky Chappie Is Back

Bobby has successfully recovered from his life threatening colic. He now lives down at the village field and is enjoying life with his new friends (girls). Due to his condition he cannot eat hay, so he will have to be fed every day over the Winter. We now have a field shelter so that we can separate him from the rest of the horses, as this will make it more manageable to feed him and of course pampering the old boy, not that he will complain too much as he likes a little bit of pampering.

We have decided to keep the Bobby Fund going in order to pay for unexpected vets bills for all of our horses. We would like to say a big thank you to every one who donated monies to the Bobby Fund.

Ace's Story

Hi. My Name is Ace. I’m the longest serving horse at Thornton Rose, and I thought I’d let you know a little bit about our group – straight from the horse’s mouth.

You know I reckon I’ve got the best job in the world. I get to hang around in the paddock with my pals, I’ve got lots of human friends who look after me and I get to help some really great kids and adults, with their riding and a whole heap of other things too.

My day normally starts around 9.30am when me and my pals wander down the paddocks and hang around the gate waiting to go for our breakfast. The helpers take us into the stables and give us lots of yummy hay. After we have finished our days work we also get some feed in our buckets and that tastes great. They say that it will give us lots of energy and has something called ‘vitamins’ in it to keep us healthy.

After breakfast the helpers brings some brushes into the stable and they give us a really good brush. They brush us all over, pick out our hooves and give our face a nice wash.

My pal Barney said that he heard Ann and Joyce say (they are the instructors who teach all the helpers how to look after us) that there are about 24 of these helpers that work with us each week they do all different kinds of jobs. I’ve see them doing things like picking up our poo in the paddocks, cleaning our saddles, pulling out the weeds that can poison us, helping the riders who come to the group.

Once we’ve had a brush down one of the helpers puts on our saddle and bridle and any other special equipment that our riders need. Sometimes Annie has to wear special reins because one of her riders has one hand, and sometimes we get to have a nice soft sheepskin on our back instead of a saddle. I think this is because some of the kids have a bit of trouble stretching far enough to get into a saddle. I don’t mind though because it’s nice to have them closer to me and they can feel my movements much better with just a sheepskin.

I always keep my head collar on under my bridle so that the helpers can clip a lead rope on if one of the riders is having trouble steering or is a bit worried that I might not do what I’m told. I don’t know why they bother with this though, because I’m really well behaved and always do everything that Ann and Joyce have taught me to do. Things like standing really still in the mounting blocks when the riders are getting on, and being very quiet and sensible when they play with weird toys or make loud, scary noises around me. I’m really glad that they spent so much time teaching me that these thing’s aren’t so scary.

We work on a Wednesday Friday and Saturday doing three classes each day. It’s great fun! there are lots of different people who come to the group and they all love to ride. Some of them need a fair bit of help, so that’s when they clip my lead rope on to make sure I move in just the right way. Sometimes I have to move slowly especially when the riders don’t have very good balance. Other times I get to trot and even canter, because some of them are really good riders and don’t need much help at all.

If one of the riders isn’t very good at talking to the other humans or can’t move very well, Ann or Joyce will ask one of the helpers to walk along beside them to help explain how to get me to go and stop and how to steer me around the poles and do all the fun games we play. I love the smiles that they get when they ride. Sometimes some of them even squeal! this is because they’re having so much fun and don’t often get to do things like this. I wish more could come for a ride because then I’d get more of those great hugs that they give me before they go back home.

You know me and my pals are really good teachers. We can help the riders to get better balance, and just by sitting on our back, they get stronger and better co-ordinated muscles. You know I remember when Jordan first came to the group he was unable to sit up or walk unaided, Muffin volunteered to help Jordan every Saturday and over the years we could see an improvement. Sadly Muffin had to go away as God had another job for her we were all sad for some time and we still her. Bobby volunteered to take her place and the two of them became the best of friends. Bobby continued to help Jordan every Saturday and guess what, he doesn’t need help anymore he can walk and sit up in the saddle and ride without any help. I reckon that’s just fantastic! Jordan now rides Ringo as he is too big for Bobby now.

We also teach stuff that people have to learn in school. Things like counting numbers, how to read and how to do things in sequence, but they have much more fun when they do it with me. Sometimes I think that they don’t even realise that they are learning – they are having such a great time.

I just hope that Bill the chairman can raise enough money to be able to keep us all working and healthy so that we can help more riders. Did you know that he’s got something called a ‘Waiting List’ and there’s 15 riders sitting on it because we don’t have enough volunteers or instructors to give them a ride on a real horse? I know it’s hard enough for him to find the money to feed us horses, so how is he going to find the money to feed a ‘Waiting List’?

You know the more I think about it the more I realise how much work all those humans do to look after us. It’s just great that I’ve found a home where I love the work and I get so well looked after.
Anyway, I hope that you know a little bit more about our group now and all the very special people that help to keep the place running. Maybe one day soon I’ll see you out there. We always love to meet new friends and helpers. Or maybe you might be able to help Bill to find some money to feed that Waiting List?

I really don’t like the thought of anything having to carry around 15 riders for such a long time.

Katie Morag's Story

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Katie Morag, but often get called Mo, Morag, Morag the Torag and Mrs Mo.

I belong to Eilish Johnston however one of our volunteers Karyn looks after me and she helps to train me so that when Eilish is older and stronger she can take me out on nice hacks herself.

Karyn made me tell you this story because she believes I’m misunderstood and am not a Torag as everyone likes to call me.

I’m a six year old Highland Pony and have been involved with the RDA for a couple of years now. I’m not as used to it as the others like Ace, Barney & Annie and at the start I just wanted to have fun, and was naughty. Sometimes if the leaders were too slow I would push them with my head, but I was taught by Karyn and Lorraine that I was not to do this, as it upset the rider.

But now have been taught by the other horses and helpers I now know I have to behave when I’m doing RDA and then later I get to have fun. At the moment I only help out on the Saturday session where Andrew used to ride me. Now he’s too big and will be riding one of the bigger horses, so it’s now Ross’s turn and Karyn has told me that I have to behave for Ross who at the moment prefers Misty, and if I’m good Ross will give me a carrot after he has ridden.

Because I don’t do RDA during the week, Karyn comes up on a Friday evening and takes me out of the field and we take a wander up the lane. She then grooms me, tacks me up and we go to the school for a lesson. This is great fun and we have a laugh too. Karyn has said that she is hoping next year that I will be able to take some of the riders to a dressage competition. Karyn & I do competitions too and we were really pleased to be placed 5th in the last competition, we have been working really really hard. I got a big hug from Karyn and a kiss on the nose. That was a bit embarrassing but I’m starting to realise that she was just being affectionate, and it’s OK to like it.

On Saturdays I feel full of energy, me and all the other horses get taken back up to the barn, groomed again and sometimes Karyn rubs my ears which I really love. Then we are ready for our riders. We get our head collars kept on so the leaders can lead us either around the school or out for a hack. Karyn always comes with me and we make a good team.

After RDA we get our lunch this is the best bit.

It can be hard work but I do enjoy it and look forward to learning more with the riders and I really want to do more competitions, and hope that people will stop calling me Morag the Torag.